Analysis of Assisted Suicide Legislation in the Applicability of Euthanasia in Colombia

Abstract

This paper reviews the legislation, jurisprudence and doctrine related to euthanasia and assisted suicide in Colombia. The jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court on the matter is analyzed in detail. It should be recalled that the Legislative has not issued a law regulating this type of legal concession, only constitutional jurisprudence is the reference. In part of the document there is a brief review of comparative law, of those European and American countries that have decided to incorporate into their legal system this type of conduct, in which normally both the patient and the physician act voluntarily, in order to mitigate the suffering of the patient who may receive a death that he/she considers dignified. Undoubtedly, this is a controversial issue, since the traditionalist and moralist positions will always repress the voluntary termination of the right to life, by scientific intervention by health personnel, provided that there is informed consent of the patient and the legal assumptions in this regard.